The region that was to become Sophene was part of the kingdom of Ararat (Urartu) in the 8th-7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishtis I of Urartu resettled many of its inhabitants in his newly built city of Erebuni (modern day Armenian capital Yerevan). Around 600 BC, Sophene became part of the newly emerged ancient Armenian Kingdom of the Orontids. This dynasty acted as satraps of Armenia firstly under Median Empire, later under Persian Empire.

According to Anania Shirakatsi's Ashkharatsuyts ("World Atlas," 7th century), Tsopk (Sophene) was the 2nd among the 15 provinces of Greater Armenia. It consisted of 8 cantons (gavar):[2]

After Alexander the Great's campaigns in 330s BC and the subsequent collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, Sophene remained part of the newly independent kingdom of Greater Armenia. In the early 3rd century BC, at the instigation of the Seleucid Empire, which was trying to weaken the Armenian kingdom, Sophene, split from Greater Armenia, forming the Kingdom of Sophene. The kingdom was ruled by a branch of the Armenian royal dynasty of Orontids. Sophene later split from the Sophene-Commagene kingdom as well, forming an independent kingdom. Commagene was part of Sophene at this time.

Around 200 BC, in his attempt to finally subjugate Armenia, Seleucid king Antiochus III conquered both Greater Armenia and Sophene, installing Armenian generals Artaxias I and Zariadres as governors-strategoi in the respective kingdoms. Following Antiochus' defeat by the Romans at the battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, both Zareh and Artashes declared themselves independent kings. Zareh and his descendants ruled the kingdom of Sophene until it was reunified with Greater Armenia by Tigranes the Great in the 80s BC.

1.
Kingdom of Sophene
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The Kingdom of Sophene was an ancient Armenian kingdom. Founded around the 3rd century BC the kingdom maintained independence until around 90 BC when Tigranes the Great conquered the territories as part of his empire, an offshoot of this kingdom was the Kingdom of Commagene, formed when the Seleucids detached Commagene from Sophene. Sophene was part of the kingdom of Urartu in the 8th-7th centuries BC, after unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishti I of Urartu resettled many of its inhabitants to his newly built city of Erebuni. Sophene then became a province of the ancient Armenian Kingdom of Orontids around 600 BC, Sophene remained part of the newly independent kingdom of Greater Armenia. Around the 3rd century BC, the Seleucid Empire forced Sophene to split from Greater Armenia, the kingdom was ruled by a branch of the Armenian royal dynasty of Orontids. The kingdoms capital was Carcathiocerta, identified as the now abandoned town-site of Egil on the Tigris river north of Diyarbakir, however, its largest settlement and only true city was Arsamosata, located further to the north. Arsamosata was founded in the 3rd century B. C. and survived in a contracted state until perhaps the early 13th century A. D

2.
Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)
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The Kingdom of Armenia, also the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, or simply Greater Armenia, was a monarchy in the Ancient Near East which existed from 321 BC to 428 AD. Its history is divided into successive reigns by three dynasties, Orontid, Artaxiad and Arsacid. It is widely believed to be the region with which all Armenians descend from and it was one of the largest empires in the history of the Middle East. Under the Seleucid Empire, the Armenian throne was divided in two – Armenia Maior and Sophene – both of which passed to members of the Artaxiad dynasty in 189 BC. The remaining Artaxiad kings ruled as clients of Rome until they were overthrown in 12 AD due to their allegiance to Romes main rival in the region. During the Roman–Parthian Wars, the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia was founded when Tiridates I, throughout most of its history during this period, Armenia was heavily contested between Rome and Parthia, and the Armenian nobility was divided among pro-Roman, pro-Parthian or neutrals. From 114 to 118, Armenia briefly became a province of the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan, the Kingdom of Armenia often served as a client state or vassal at the frontier of the two large empires and their successors, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. In 301, Tiridates III proclaimed Christianity as the religion of Armenia. During the Byzantine–Sasanian wars, Armenia was ultimately partitioned into Byzantine Armenia in 387, the Kingdoms symbol and most famous icon was Mount Ararat, arguably the tallest mountain in the kingdom. The geographic Armenian Highlands, then known as the highlands of Ararat, was inhabited by Proto-Armenian tribes which did not yet constitute a unitary state or nation. The highlands were first united by tribes in the vicinity of Lake Van into the Kingdom of Van, the kingdom competed with Assyria over supremacy in the highlands of Ararat and the Fertile Crescent. Both kingdoms fell to Iranian invaders from the neighbouring East in the 6th century BC and its territory was reorganized into a satrapy called Armenia. The Orontid dynasty ruled as satraps of the Achaemenid Empire for three centuries until the defeat against Alexander the Greats Macedonian Empire at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. After Alexanders death in 323 BC, a Macedonian general named Neoptolemus obtained Armenia until he died in 321 BC and the Orontids returned, not as satraps, Orontes III also defeated the Thessalian commander Menon, who wanted to capture Spers gold mines. The Seleucid Empires influence over Armenia had weakened after it was defeated by the Romans in the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, a Hellenistic Armenian state was thus founded in the same year by Artaxias I alongside the Armenian kingdom of Sophene led by Zariadres. Artaxias seized Yervandashat, united the Armenian Highlands at the expense of neighboring tribes, according to Strabo and Plutarch, Hannibal Barca received hospitality at the Armenian court of Artaxias I. The authors add a story of how Hannibal planned and supervised the building of Artaxata. The new city was laid on a position at the juncture of trade routes that connected the Ancient Greek world with Bactria, India

3.
Western Armenian
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Western Armenian is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. Until the early 20th century, various Western Armenian dialects were spoken in the Ottoman Empire, following the extermination of the Armenian population during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 Western Armenian is now spoken, almost exclusively, in the Armenian diaspora communities around the world. Estimates place the number of fluent speakers of Western Armenian at less than one million, Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian are somewhat mutually intelligible. Western Armenian has more colloquial Turkish vocabulary which Eastern does not, an example of differences in phonology, the bs in Eastern Armenian are ps in Western Armenian, similarly with gs in Eastern Armenian that are pronounced ks in Western Armenian. Western Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian diaspora, mainly in North America and South America, Europe, Australia, and most of the Middle East except for Iran. It is spoken by only a percentage of Armenians in Turkey as a first language. Western Armenian was at one point the dominant Armenian dialect, after the genocide, Western Armenia was wiped clean of Western Armenians. Those who fled to Eastern Armenia today speak Eastern Armenian, the only Western Armenian dialect still spoken in Western Armenia is the Homshetsi dialect, as the people who speak it did not fall victim to the Armenian Genocide due to being Muslim. Western Armenian has eight vowel sounds. The Western Armenian language has nine diphthong sounds and this is the Western Armenian Consonantal System using letters from the International Phonetic Alphabet, followed by the corresponding Armenian letter in brackets. The differences in phonology between Western Armenian and Classical Armenian phonology include the distinction of stops and affricates, for example, Classical has three bilabial stops, /b/ ⟨բ⟩, /p/ ⟨պ⟩, and /pʰ/ ⟨փ⟩, Western Armenian, two bilabial stops, /b/ ⟨պ⟩ and /pʰ/ ⟨բ⟩/⟨փ⟩. However, grandson and stone are pronounced similarly in Classical and Western Armenian, Western Armenian uses Classical Armenian orthography, also known as the Mashtotsian orthography. Western Armenian nouns have six cases, nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative. Of the six cases, the nominative and accusative are the same, except for personal pronouns, nouns in Armenian also decline for number, but do not decline for gender. Declension in Armenian is based on how the genitive is formed, from this, all other tenses and moods are formed with various particles and constructions. There is a form, the preterite, which in Armenian is tense in its own right. For the exceptions, bidi əllam, unenam, kidnam, garenam, in vernacular language, the particle gor is added after the verb to indicate present progressive tense, apparently borrowed from Turkish -yor-, cf. seviyorum, gə sirem gor. The distinction is not made in literary Armenian, Գործնական Քերականութիւն - Արդի Հայերէն Լեզուի

4.
Artaxias I
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Artaxias I was the founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty whose members ruled the Kingdom of Armenia for nearly two centuries. By the end of the 3rd century BC, the kingdom of Armenia was made up of around 120 dynastic domains ruled by nakharars, even though Alexander the Great did not conquer Armenia, Hellenistic culture had strongly impacted Armenian society. When Antiochus the Great wrestled Armenia from Orontid rule, he appointed Artaxias as strategos, the population of the previous Yervanduni capital of Yervandashat was transferred to Artashat. In these inscriptions Artashes claims descent from the Yervanduni Dynasty, King Artaxias, Artaxias was married to Satenik, daughter of the king of Alans. They had six sons, Artavasdes, Vruyr, Mazhan, Zariadres, Tiran, Artaxias founded a capital, Artaxata on the Araks River near Lake Sevan. Hannibal took refuge there at his court when Antiochus could not protect him any longer, Artaxias was taken captive by Antiochus IV Epiphanes when he attacked Armenia around 165 BC. It is said that when Hannibal fled from the Romans and came to Armenia, he suggested different projects to the Armenian king, when he saw the beautiful landscape and nature in Armenia he drew a sketch for the future city. Then he took Artashes to the spot and asked him to supervise the building of the city. Thus a big and beautiful city was named after the king, Artashat, Artaxias I entry in Encyclopaedia Iranica Artashes biography King Artashes Illustrations About King Artashes

5.
Tigranes the Great
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Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great was King of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state east of the Roman Republic. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House, Tigranes had been a hostage until the age of 45 at the court of King Mithridates II of Parthia after the Armenian defeat in 105 BC. Other sources give the date as much earlier, at around 112–111 BC, after the death of King Tigranes I in 95 BC, Tigranes bought his freedom, according to Strabo, by handing over seventy valleys in Atropatene to the Parthians. When he came to power, the foundation upon which Tigranes was to build his Empire was already in place, a legacy of the founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty, Artaxias I and this did not suit Tigranes, who wanted to create a centralist empire. He thus proceeded by consolidating his power within Armenia before embarking on his campaign and he deposed Artanes, the last king of Armenian Sophene and a descendant of Zariadres. During the First Mithridatic War, Tigranes supported Mithridates VI of Pontus and he rapidly built up his power and established an alliance with Mithridates VI, marrying his daughter Cleopatra. Tigranes agreed to extend his influence in the East, while Mithridates set to conquer Roman land in Asia Minor, by creating a stronger Hellenistic state, Mithridates was to contend with the well-established Roman foothold in Europe. The slaughter of 80,000 people in the province of Asia Minor was known as the Asiatic Vespers, the two kings attempts to control Cappadocia and then the massacres resulted in guaranteed Roman intervention. The senate decided that Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who was one of the consuls. Magadates was appointed as his governor in Antioch, the southern border of his domain reached as far as Ptolemais. Many of the inhabitants of conquered cities were sent to his new metropolis of Tigranocerta, at its height, his empire extended from the Pontic Alps to Mesopotamia, and from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. A series of victories led him to assume the Achaemenid title of King of Kings and he was called Tigranes the Great by many Western historians and writers, such as Plutarch. The King of Kings never appeared in public without having four kings attending him, cicero, referring to his success in the east, said that he made the Republic of Rome tremble before the prowess of his arms. Tigranes coin consist of tetradrachms and copper coins having on the obverse his portrait wearing a decorated Armenian tiara with ear-flaps, the reverse has a completely original design. There are the seated Tyche of Antioch and the river god Orontes at her feet, Mithridates had found refuge in Armenian land after confronting Rome, considering the fact that Tigranes was his ally and relative. The King of Kings eventually came into contact with Rome. The Roman commander, Lucullus, demanded the expulsion of Mithridates from Armenia – to comply with such a demand would be, in effect, to accept the status of vassal to Rome and this Tigranes refused. Charles Rollin, in his Ancient History, says, Lucullus reaction was an attack that was so precipitate that he took Tigranes by surprise, according to Roman historians Mithrobazanes, one of Tigranes generals, told Tigranes of the Roman approach

6.
Armenian language
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The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenians. Like Hellenic Greek, it has its own branch in the language tree. It is the language of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It has historically been spoken throughout the Armenian Highlands and today is spoken in the Armenian diaspora. Armenian has its own script, the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots. Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages and it is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological developments within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization, although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups, Armenia was a monolingual country by the 2nd century BC at the latest. Its language has a literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Its vocabulary has been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages, particularly Parthian, and to an extent by Greek, Persian. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian, with which most contemporary dialects are mutually intelligible and he is also credited by some with the creation of the Caucasian Albanian alphabet. In The Anabasis, Xenophon describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the Armenian people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. W. M. However, unlike shared innovations, the retention of archaisms is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. Some of the terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, loan words from Iranian languages, along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that the similarities between the two meant that Iranian and Armenian were the same language. The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann used the method to distinguish two layers of Iranian loans from the older Armenian vocabulary. Meillets hypothesis became popular in the wake of his Esquisse, eric P. Hamp supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis, anticipating even a time when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian. Nevertheless, as Fortson comments, by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, graeco--Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family, ancestral to the Greek language, the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages. Graeco-Aryan unity would have divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-third millennium BC

7.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek

8.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor

9.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age

10.
Urartu
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Urartu, also known as Kingdom of Van, was an Iron Age kingdom centred on Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands. It corresponds to the biblical Kingdom of Ararat, the language appears in cuneiform inscriptions. It is argued on linguistic evidence that came in contact with Urartian at an early date. That a distinction should be made between the geographical and the entity was already pointed out by König. The landscape corresponds to the plateau between Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and the Caucasus Mountains, later known as the Armenian Highlands. The kingdom rose to power in the mid-ninth century BC, the heirs of Urartu are the Armenians and their successive kingdoms. The name Urartu comes from Assyrian sources, Shalmaneser I recorded a campaign in which he subdued the entire territory of Uruatri, the Shalmaneser text uses the name Urartu to refer to a geographical region, not a kingdom, and names eight lands contained within Urartu. Urartu is cognate with the Biblical Ararat, Akkadian Urashtu and Armenian Ayrarat, the Urartian toponym Biainili was adopted in the Old Armenian as Van, Վան. Hence the names Kingdom of Van or Vannic Kingdom, scholars such as Carl Ferdinand Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt believed that the people of Urartu called themselves Khaldini after the god Ḫaldi. Boris Piotrovsky wrote that the Urartians first appear in history in the 13th century BC as a league of tribes or countries which did not yet constitute a unitary state. In the Assyrian annals the term Uruatri as a name for this league was superseded during a period of years by the term land of Nairi. Scholars believe that Urartu is an Akkadian variation of Ararat of the Old Testament, indeed, Mount Ararat is located in ancient Urartian territory, approximately 120 kilometres north of its former capital. In addition to referring to the famous Biblical mountain, Ararat also appears as the name of a kingdom in Jeremiah 51,27, mentioned together with Minni, in the early sixth century BC, Urartu was replaced by the Armenian Orontid Dynasty. Shupria was part of the Urartu confederation, later, there is reference to a district in the area called Arme or Urme, which some scholars have linked to the name of Armenia. At its apogee, Urartu stretched from the borders of northern Mesopotamia to the southern Caucasus, including present-day Armenia, archaeological sites within its boundaries include Altintepe, Toprakkale, Patnos and Haykaberd. Urartu fortresses included Erebuni, Van Fortress, Argishtihinili, Anzaf, Haykaberd, schulz discovered and copied numerous cuneiform inscriptions, partly in Assyrian and partly in a hitherto unknown language. Schulz also re-discovered the Kelishin stele, bearing an Assyrian-Urartian bilingual inscription, a summary account of his initial discoveries was published in 1828. Schulz and four of his servants were murdered by Kurds in 1829 near Başkale and his notes were later recovered and published in Paris in 1840

11.
Argishti I of Urartu
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Argishti I, was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, a son and the successor of Menua, he continued the series of conquests initiated by his predecessors. He was involved in a number of conflicts with the Assyrian king Shalmaneser IV. He conquered the part of Syria and made Urartu the most powerful state in post-Hittite Asia Minor. He also expanded his kingdom north to Lake Sevan, conquering much of Diauehi, argishti built the Erebuni Fortress in 782 BC, and the fortress of Argishtikhinili in 776 BC. He was succeeded by his son Sarduri II, some linguists believe that the name Argištiše has Indo-European etymology. Compare Armenian արեգ – “sun deity”, “sun”, Phrygian ΑΡΕJΑΣΤΙΝ - “epithet of the great mother” and Greek αργεστής - “shining”, “brilliant”, “white”, list of kings of Urartu N. Adontz, Histoire dArménie. Les origines, Paris,1946 Erebouni at Armenica. org Erebuni - Cuneiform Foundations

12.
Erebuni Fortress
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Erebuni Fortress, also known as Arin Berd, is an Urartian fortified city, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It is 1,017 metres above sea level and it was one of several fortresses built along the northern Urartian border and was one of the most important political, economic and cultural centers of the vast kingdom. The name Yerevan itself is derived from Erebuni, on an inscription found at Karmir Blur, the verb erebu-ni is used in the sense of to seize, pillage, steal, or kidnap followed by a changing direct object. The Circassian historian Amjad Jaimoukha gives an etymology, however. Buni comes from the Nakh root which spawned the Chechen word bun meaning shelter or cabin, with its Indo-European roots bun initially derives from the Armenian word buyn for birds nest or lair. Cognates include Sanskrit भुवन, Albanian bun and Middle Persian بن bun and it may have spawned the word van in Armenian, albeit possibly through different roots which similarly means shelter. Interpreted in that way, the fortress would be the city of the Èr people. Jaimoukha states furthermore that the name of the Èr also serves as the root for the Arax valley, Erebuni was founded by Urartian King Argishti I in 782 BC. It was built on top of a hill called Arin Berd overlooking the Arax River Valley to serve as a stronghold to protect the kingdoms northern borders. It has been described as being designed as an administrative and religious centre. Accordingly, the prisoners he captured in these campaigns, both men and women, were used to build his town. In the autumn of 1950, an expedition led by Konstantine Hovhannisyan discovered an inscription at Arin Berd dedicated to the citys founding which was carved during Argishtis reign. Two other identical inscriptions have been found at the citadel of Erebuni, Argishti says, The land was a desert, before the great works I accomplished upon it. By the greatness of Khaldi, Argishti, son of Menua, is a mighty king, king of Biainili, and ruler of Tushpa. Argishti left an inscription at the Urartian capital of Tushpa as well, stating that he brought 6,600 prisoners of war from Khate. Similar to other Urartian cities of the time, it was built on a plan on top of a hill. Behind them, the buildings were separated by central and inner walls, the walls were built from a variety of materials, including basalt, tuff, wood and adobe. The inner walls were decorated with murals and other wall paintings, displaying religious

13.
Yerevan
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Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia as well as one of the worlds oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural and it has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the history of Armenia, and the seventh located in or around the Ararat plain. The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, Erebuni was designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital. During the centuries long Iranian rule over Eastern Armenia that lasted from the early 16th century up to 1828, in 1828, it became part of Imperial Russia alongside the rest of Eastern Armenia which conquered it from Iran through the Russo-Persian War between 1826 and 1828. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire settled in the area, the city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as Armenia became part of the Soviet Union. As of 2011, the population of Yerevan was 1,060,138, according to the official estimate of 2016, the current population of the city is 1,073,700. Yerevan was named the 2012 World Book Capital by UNESCO, Yerevan is an associate member of Eurocities. One theory regarding the origin of Yerevans name is the city was named after the Armenian king, Yervand IV, the last leader of the Orontid Dynasty, and founder of the city of Yervandashat. However, it is likely that the name is derived from the Urartian military fortress of Erebuni. As elements of the Urartian language blended with that of the Armenian one, while looking in the direction of Yerevan, after the ark had landed on Mount Ararat and the flood waters had receded, Noah is believed to have exclaimed, Yerevats. In the late medieval and early periods, when Yerevan was under Turkic and later Persian rule. This name is widely used by Azerbaijanis. The city was known as Erivan under Russian rule during the 19th. The city was renamed back to Yerevan in 1936, up until the mid-1970s the citys name was spelled Erevan, more often than Yerevan, in English sources. The principal symbol of Yerevan is Mount Ararat, which is visible from any area in the capital, the seal of the city is a crowned lion on a pedestal with the inscription Yerevan. The lions head is turned backwards while it holds a scepter using the front leg. The symbol of eternity is on the breast of the lion with a picture of Ararat in the upper part, the emblem is a rectangular shield with a blue border. On 27 September 2004, Yerevan adopted an anthem, Erebuni-Yerevan, written by Paruyr Sevak and it was selected in a competition for a new anthem and new flag that would best represent the city

14.
Orontid Dynasty
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The Orontid dynasty, also known by their native name Eruandid or Yervanduni, was a hereditary Armenian dynasty and the rulers of the successor state to the Iron Age kingdom of Urartu. The Orontids established their supremacy over Armenia around the time of the Scythian and Median invasion in the 6th century BC, the Orontids are the first of the three royal dynasties that successively ruled the ancient Kingdom of Armenia. Little is known about the origins of the Orontid dynasty, some historians believe that the Orontid kings were of Armenian or Urartian origin. In addition, historians believe the dynasty may have had Iranian origin through a relation to the Achaemenids. The name Orontes is the Hellenized form of a name of Iranian origin. The name is attested in Greek. Its Avestan connection is Auruuant and Middle Persian Arwand, some have suggested a continuity with the Hittite name Arnuwanda. Various Greek transcriptions of the name in Classical sources are spelled as Orontes, Aruandes or Ardoates, the presence of this dynasty is attested from at least 400 BC, and it can be shown to have ruled originally from Armavir and subsequently Yervandashat. Xenophon mentions an Armenian king named Tigranes in his Cyropaedia and he was an ally of Cyrus the Great with whom he hunted. His elder son was also named Tigranes, upon the outbreak of hostilities between Medes and Babylonians, Tigranes had renounced his treaty obligations to the Medes. As a successor of Astyages, Cyrus demanded to be paid the same tribute, strabo corroborates this in his Geography. In 521 BC, with the disturbances that occurred after the death of Cambyses and the proclamation of Smerdis as King, the Armenians revolted. Darius I of Persia sent an Armenian named Dâdarši to suffocate the revolt, around the same time, another Armenian by the name of Arakha, son of Haldita, claimed to be the son of the last king of Babylon, Nabonidus, and renamed himself Nebuchadnezzar IV. His rebellion was short-lived and was suppressed by Intaphrenes, Darius bow carrier and these events are described in detail within the Behistun inscription. After the administrative reorganization of the Persian Empire, Armenia was converted into several satrapies, Armenian satraps regularly intermarried with the family of the King of Kings. These satraps provided contingents to Xerxes invasion of Greece in 480 BC, herodotus says that the Armenians in the army of Xerxes were armed like the Phrygians. In 401 BC Xenophon marched through Armenia with an army of Greek mercenaries as part of the March of the Ten Thousand. Xenophon mentions two individuals by the name Orontes, apparently both Persian, tiribaz is mentioned as hipparchos of Armenia under Orontes, who later became satrap of Lydia

15.
Armenia
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Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. The Republic of Armenia constitutes only one-tenth of historical Armenia, Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia, in the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The official date of adoption of Christianity is 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century, under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the fell in 1045. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, during World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the worlds oldest national church, as the countrys primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991, the native Armenian name for the country is Հայք. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Հայաստան, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan, the further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription as Armina, the ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία and Ἀρμένιοι are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a descendant of Hayk

16.
Medes
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The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in an area known as Media and who spoke the Median language. This allowed new peoples to pass through and settle, in addition Elam, the dominant power in Iran, was suffering a period of severe weakness, as was Babylonia to the west. During the reign of Sinsharishkun the Assyrian empire, which had been in a state of constant civil war since 626 BC, subject peoples, such as the Medes, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Lydians and Arameans quietly ceased to pay tribute to Assyria. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BC by Cyrus the Great. However, nowadays there is doubt whether a united Median empire ever existed. There is no evidence and the story of Herodotus is not supported by sources from the Neo-Assyrian Empire nor the Neo-Babylonian Empire. A few archaeological sites and textual sources provide a documentation of the history. Apart from a few names, the language of the Medes is unknown. The Medes had an Ancient Iranian Religion with a priesthood named as Magi, later during the reigns of the last Median kings, the reforms of Zoroaster spread into western Iran. Besides Ecbatana, the other existing in Media were Laodicea. The fourth city of Media was Apamea, near Ecbatana, whose location is now unknown. According to the Histories of Herodotus, there were six Median tribes, Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, now these are the tribes of which they consist, the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi. The six Median tribes resided in Media proper, the triangular shaped area between Ecbatana, Rhagae and Aspadana, in modern Iran, that is the area between Tehran, Isfahan and Hamadan. Of the Median tribes, the Magi resided in Rhaga, modern Tehran and it was a type of sacred caste, which ministered to the spiritual needs of the Medes. The Paretaceni tribe resided in and around Aspadana, modern Isfahan, the Arizanti lived in and around Kashan, the Struchates and the Budii lived in villages in the Median triangle. The original source for different words used to call the Median people, their language, the meaning of this word is not precisely established. The Median people are mentioned by name in many ancient texts. According to the Histories of Herodotus, The Medes were called anciently by all people Aryans, but when Medea, such is the account which they themselves give

17.
Persian Empire
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Persian Empire refers to any of a series of imperial dynasties centered in Persia. The first of these was the Achaemenid Empire established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC with the conquest of Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires and it covered much of the Ancient world when it was conquered by Alexander the Great. Several later dynasties claimed to be heirs of the Achaemenids, Persia was then ruled by the Parthian Empire which supplanted the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, and then by the Sassanian Empire which ruled up until mid 7th century. It is important to note that many of these empires referred to themselves as Persian, they were often ethnically ruled by Medes, Babylonians. Iranian dynastic history was interrupted by the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD, establishing the even larger Islamic Caliphate, the main religion of ancient Persia was the native Zoroastrianism, but after the seventh century, it was replaced by Islam. Since 1979 and the downfall of the Pahlavi dynasty during Iranian Revolution, Persia has had a Shiah theocratic government

18.
Anania Shirakatsi
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Anania Shirakatsi, also known as Ananias of Shirak and Annannia Shirakatsi, was an Armenian philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, geographer and alchemist. He discovered that the Earth is spherical and proposed there was more to the universe than the standard Aristotelian model accepted at the time and his most famous works are Ashkharatsuyts and Cosmography and the Calendar. Scholars do not agree on where Anania was born, some historians believe that he was born in Shirakavan, others, that the village of Anania in Shirak or the city of Ani was his birthplace. Unlike many other figures, Anania left behind an autobiography. It is known that he was the son of John of Shirak and it is believed that he received his primary education at a school named Dprevank, and that from a very early age he found himself attracted to mathematics. He left Armenia and traveled abroad for years in the hopes of getting a better education. Upon the recommendation of several of his friends who were returning from Constantinople, there he met and fell under the tutelage of a renowned Greek scholar who spoke Armenian, Tychikos, and spent eight years learning mathematics there. Anania profited greatly from his mentors teachings, as evidenced from the writings in his autobiography, in addition, he also learned a few elements of other sciences. The education center Anania established could not have come at a time and was a welcoming sight during an era when the study of mathematics was waning. After teaching for several years, he had gained a famous reputation all throughout Armenia. Taking into account the incompatibilities of the week, the lunar month. Ananias solution, though, was never adopted by the Church, among all his works, Anania is best known for writing the Ashkharhatsuyts. The Ashkharhatsuyts is an atlas that gives detailed information on the fifteen provinces of Armenia. Anania gives general information on the earth, its surface, climatic belts, seas, the oldest extant manuscript in the field of Armenian geography preserved at the Matenadaran in Yerevan is Ananias Ashkharhatsuyts. Anania also authored Cosmography and the Calendar, a 48 chapter work that discusses astronomy, meteorology and he described the world as being like an egg with a spherical yolk surrounded by a layer of white and covered with a hard shell. Anania is considered the founder of the study of the sciences in Armenia. For centuries, his works were used at schools in Armenia as textbooks, the Anania Shirakatsi Medal is an Armenian State Award for scientists in the economics and natural sciences, engineers and inventors. In 2005, the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia issued an Anania Shirakatsi commemorative coin, a Reassessment of the Life and Mathematical Problems of Anania Širakaci, Revue des Études Arméniennes,33, pp. 131–86

19.
Alexander the Great
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Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and he was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of historys most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16, after Philips assassination in 336 BC, he succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his fathers Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia, in 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of battles, most notably the battles of Issus. He subsequently overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety, at that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He sought to reach the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea and invaded India in 326 BC and he eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexanders surviving generals, Alexanders legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt, Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and he is often ranked among the most influential people in human history. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his wife, Olympias. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his wife for some time. Several legends surround Alexanders birth and childhood, sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wifes womb with a seal engraved with a lions image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of dreams, that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and it was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception

20.
Achaemenid Empire
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The Achaemenid Empire, also called the Persian Empire, was an empire based in Western Asia, founded by Cyrus the Great. The empires successes inspired similar systems in later empires and it is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city-states during the Greco-Persian Wars and for the emancipation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built in a Hellenistic style in the empire as well. By the 7th century BC, the Persians had settled in the portion of the Iranian Plateau in the region of Persis. From this region, Cyrus the Great advanced to defeat the Medes, Lydia, Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered the empire in its entirety by 330 BC. Upon his death, most of the former territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire. The Persian population of the central plateau reclaimed power by the second century BC under the Parthian Empire, the historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange. The impact of Cyruss edict is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts, the empire also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Iran. Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Due to the duration of their reigns, Smerdis, Xerxes II. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here, the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished, they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all of which are attached to the soil, the Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians. The Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by 6th century BC another group of ancient Iranian peoples had established the short lived Median Empire. The Iranian peoples had arrived in the region of what is today Iran c.1000 BC and had for a number of centuries fallen under the domination of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia. However, the Medes and Persians, Cimmerians, Persians and Chaldeans played a role in the overthrow of the Assyrian empire. The term Achaemenid means of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes, despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria. At some point in 550 BC, Cyrus rose in rebellion against the Medes, eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire

21.
Commagene
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The Kingdom of Commagene was an ancient Armenian kingdom of the Hellenistic period, located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which served as its capital. The Iron Age name of Samosata, Kummuh, probably gives its name to Commagene, Commagene has been characterized as a buffer state between Armenia, Parthia, Syria, and Rome, culturally, it seems to have been correspondingly mixed. The territory of Commagene corresponds roughly to the modern Turkish provinces of Adıyaman, little is known of the region of Commagene prior to the beginning of the 2nd century BC. However, it seems that, from what little evidence remains and this control lasted until c. 163 BC, when the local satrap, Ptolemaeus of Commagene, established himself as independent ruler following the death of the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Kingdom of Commagene maintained its independence until 17 AD, when it was made a Roman province by Emperor Tiberius, the reemergent state lasted until 72 AD, when the Emperor Vespasian finally and definitively made it part of the Roman Empire. It is now a World Heritage Site, the cultural identity of the Kingdom of Commagene has been variously characterized. Pierre Merlat suggests that the Commagenian city of Doliche, like others in its vicinity, was half Iranianized, david M. Lang describes Commagene as a former Armenian satellite kingdom, while Blömer and Winter call it a Hellenistic kingdom. Frank McLynn denominates it a a small Hellenised Armenian kingdom in southern Anatolia, while the language used on public monuments was typically Greek, Commagenes rulers made no secret of their Persian and Armenian affinities. Over the course of first centuries BC and AD, the names given on a tomb at Sofraz Köy show a mix of typical Hellenistic dynastic names with an introduction of Latin personal names. Lang notes the vitality of Graeco-Roman culture in Commagene, Commagene was originally a small Syro-Hittite kingdom, located in modern south-central Turkey, with its capital at Samosata. It was first mentioned in Assyrian texts as Kummuhu, which was normally an ally of Assyria, the Achaemenid Empire then conquered Commagene in the 6th century BC and Alexander the Great conquered the territory in the 4th century BC. Ptolemys dynasty was related to the Parthian kings, but his descendant Mithridates I Callinicus embraced Hellenistic culture and his dynasty could thus claim ties with both Alexander the Great and the Persian kings. This marriage may also have part of a peace treaty between Commagene and the Seleucid Empire. From this point on, the kingdom of Commagene became more Greek than Persian, with Sophene, it was to serve as an important centre for the transmission of Hellenistic and Roman culture in the region. Details are sketchy, but Mithridates Callinicus is thought have accepted Armenian suzerainty during the reign of Tigranes II the Great, Mithridates and Laodice’s son was King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. Antiochus was an ally of the Roman general Pompey during the campaigns against Mithridates VI of Pontus in 64 BC. Thanks to his skills, Antiochus was able to keep Commagene independent from the Romans. In 17 when Antiochus III of Commagene died, Emperor Tiberius annexed Commagene to the province of Syria, in 38, Caligula reinstated Antiochus IIIs son Antiochus IV and also gave him the wild areas of Cilicia to govern

22.
Zariadres
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Zariadres was a King of Sophene. Strabo cites Sophene being taken over by a general of king Antiochus III by 200 BC and it is possible that Zariadres was the father of Abdissares, although the scant historical records have Abdissares ruling before Zariadres. The name written as Dsariadris might be a Greek corruption of the name Bagdassar, a hypothesis is that king Bagdassar was forced to accept rule by king Antiochus III, but stayed as a Satrap, paying tribute until the Battle of Magnesia allowed him to reassert his independence. Strabo was writing 200 years after events and may not have been accurate. In these inscriptions Artashes claims descent from the Yervanduni Dynasty, King Artaxias, the son of Orontid Zariadres

23.
Pompey
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Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, usually known in English as Pompey /ˈpɒmpiː/ or Pompey the Great, was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. He came from a wealthy Italian provincial background, and his father had been the first to establish the family among the Roman nobility, Pompeys immense success as a general while still very young enabled him to advance directly to his first consulship without meeting the normal requirements for office. His success as a commander in Sullas Second Civil War resulted in Sulla bestowing the nickname Magnus. He was consul three times and celebrated three triumphs, after the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, when Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, he sought refuge in Egypt, where he was assassinated. His career and defeat are significant in Romes subsequent transformation from Republic to Empire, Pompeys family first gained the position of Consul in 141 BC. Pompeys father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was an equestrian from Picenum. He fought the Social War against Romes Italian allies and he supported Sulla, who belonged to the optimates, the pro-aristocracy faction, against Marius, who belonged to the populares, in Sullas first civil war. He died during the siege of Rome by the Marians in 87 BC, either as a casualty of an epidemic and his twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates, and the loyalty of his legions. Pompey had served two years under his fathers command, and had participated in the part of the Social War. When his father died, Pompey was put on due to accusations that his father stole public property. As his father’s heir Pompey could be held to account and he discovered that this was committed by one of his fathers freedmen. Following his preliminary bouts with his accuser, the took a liking to Pompey and offered his daughter. Another civil war broke out between the Marians and Sulla, Cassius Dio added that Pompey had sent a detachment to pursue him, but he outstripped them by crossing the River Phasis. He reached the Maeotis and stayed in the Cimmerian Bosporus and he had his son Machares, who ruled it and gone over to the Romans, killed and recovered that country. Meanwhile, Pompey set up a colony for his soldiers at Nicopolitans in Cappadocia, in Plutarchs account Pompey was invited to invade Armenia by Tigranes’ son, who rebelled against his father. The two men received the submission of several towns, when they got close Artaxata Tigranes, knowing Pompey’s leniency, surrendered and allowed a Roman garrison in his palace. Pompey offered the restitution of the Armenian territories in Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia and he demanded an indemnity and ruled that the son should be king of Sophene

24.
Roman province
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In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy, largest territorial and administrative unit of the empires territorial possessions outside of Italy. The word province in modern English has its origins in the used by the Romans. Provinces were generally governed by politicians of senatorial rank, usually former consuls or former praetors and this exception was unique, but not contrary to Roman law, as Egypt was considered Augustus personal property, following the tradition of earlier, Hellenistic kings. The territory of a people who were defeated in war might be brought under various forms of treaty, the formal annexation of a territory created a province in the modern sense of an administrative unit geographically defined. Republican provinces were administered in one-year terms by the consuls and praetors who had held office the previous year, Rome started expanding beyond Italy during the First Punic War. The first permanent provinces to be annexed were Sicily in 241 BC, militarized expansionism kept increasing the number of these administrative provinces, until there were no longer enough qualified individuals to fill the posts. The terms of provincial governors often had to be extended for multiple years,241 BC – Sicilia taken over from the Carthaginians and annexed at the end of the First Punic War. 237 BC – Corsica et Sardinia, these two islands were taken over from the Carthaginians and annexed soon after the Mercenary War, in 238 BC and 237 BC respectively. 197 BC – Hispania Citerior, along the east coast of the,197 BC - Hispania Ulterior, along the southern coast of the, part of the territories taken over from the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War. 147 BC – Macedonia, mainland Greece and it was annexed after a rebellion by the Achaean League. 146 BC – Africa, modern day Tunisia and western Libya, home territory of Carthage and it was annexed following attacks on the allied Greek city of Massalia. 67 BC – Creta et Cyrenae, Cyrenaica was bequeathed to Rome in 78 BC, however, it was not organised as a province. 58 BC – Cilicia et Cyprus, Cilicia was created as a province in the sense of area of command in 102 BC in a campaign against piracy. The Romans controlled only a small area, in 74 BC Lycia and Pamphylia were added to the smal Roman possessions in Cilicia. Cilicia came fully under Roman control towards the end of the Third Mithridatic War - 73-63 BC, the province was reorganised by Pompey in 63 BC. Gallia Cisalpina was a province in the sense of an area of military command, during Romes expansion in Italy the Romans assigned some areas as provinces in the sense of areas of military command assigned to consuls or praetors due to risks of rebellions or invasions. This was applied to Liguria because there was a series of rebellions, Bruttium, in the early days of Roman presence in Gallia Cisalpina the issue was rebellion. Later the issue was risk of invasions by warlike peoples east of Italy, the city of Aquileia was founded to protect northern Italy form invasions

25.
Amida (Mesopotamia)
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Amida was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located where modern Diyarbakır, Turkey now stands. The Roman writers Ammianus Marcellinus and Procopius consider it a city of Mesopotamia, the city was located on the right bank of the Tigris. The walls are lofty and substantial, and constructed of the stones from older buildings. Amid, also known by various names throughout its history, was established as an Assyrian settlement. The oldest artefact from Amida is the stele of king Naram-Sin also believed to be from third millennia BC. The name Amida first appears in the writings of Assyrian King Adad Nirari who ruled the city as a part of the Assyrian homeland and it was enlarged and strengthened by Constantius II, in whose reign it was besieged and taken after seventy-three days by the Sassanid king Shapur II. The Roman soldiers and a part of the population of the town were massacred by the Persians. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who took part in the defence of the town, has given an account of the siege. In 363 Amida was re-taken by Roman Emperor Julian, Amida was besieged by the Sassanid king Kavadh I during the Anastasian War through the autumn and winter. During that same war, the Romans attempted an unsuccessful siege of the Persian-held Amida. In 504, however, the Romans reconquered the city, and Justinian I repaired its walls, the Sassanids captured the city for a third time in 602 and held it for more than twenty years. In 628 the Roman emperor Heraclius recovered Amida, finally, in 639 the city was captured by the Arab armies of Islam and it remained in Arab hands until the Kurdish dynasty of the Marwanids ruled the area during the 10th and 11th centuries. In 1085, the Seljuq Turks captured the region from the Marwanids, however, the Ayyubids received the city from Seljuqs in 1201, and the city ruled by them until the Mongolian Ilkhanate captured the city in 1259. Later the Turkmen Artuqid dynasty received the city from the Ayyubids, yavuz Sultan Selim, the Ottoman Emperor received the city from the Safavids in 1515. Amida is a diocese of several Christian denominations, for the history of Amida and Diyarbakir. Diyarbakır Siege of Amida Ephraim of Antioch, Church Father born in Amida George Long, Amida, in William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Volume 1, Walton & Maberly,1854, greatrex, Geoffrey, Lieu, Samuel N. C. Justinians First Persian War and the Eternal Peace, the Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars. Matthew Bennett, Amida, The Hutchinson dictionary of ancient & medieval warfare, Taylor & Francis,1998, ISBN 1-57958-116-1, p.13

26.
Roman Armenia
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Roman Armenia refers to the rule of parts of Greater Armenia by the Roman Empire, from the 1st century AD to the end of Late Antiquity. While Armenia Minor had become a client state and incorporated into the Roman Empire proper during the 1st century AD, only in 114–118 was Emperor Trajan able to conquer and incorporate it as a short-lived province. In the late 4th century, Armenia was divided between Rome and the Sasanians, who control of the larger part of the Armenian Kingdom. Throughout most of its history during this period, under the reign of the Arsacid Dynasty, Armenia often served as a client state or vassal at the frontier of the two large empires and their successors, the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. During the Byzantine–Sasanian wars, Armenia was ultimately partitioned into Byzantine Armenia, with the eastwards expansion of the Roman Republic during the Mithridatic Wars, the Kingdom of Armenia, under the Artaxiad Dynasty, was made a Roman protectorate by Pompey in 66/65 BC. For the next 100 years, Armenia remained under Roman influence, towards the middle of the 1st century AD, the rising Parthian influence disputed Roman supremacy, which was re-established by the campaigns of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. In 113, Trajan invaded the Parthian Empire because he wanted to reinstate a vassal king in Armenia, in 114, Trajan from Antiochia in Syria marched on Armenia and conquered the capital Artaxata. Trajan then deposed the Armenian king Parthamasiris and ordered the annexation of Armenia to the Roman Empire as a new province, the new province reached the shores of the Caspian sea and bordered to the north with the Caucasian Iberia and Albania, two vassal states of Rome. As a Roman province Armenia was administered along with Cappadocia by Catilius Severus of the gens Claudia, the Roman Senate issued coins on this occasion bearing the following inscription, ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P. R. REDACTAE, thus solidifying Armenias position as the newest Roman province. After Trajans death, his successor Hadrian decided not to maintain the province of Armenia, in 118, Hadrian gave Armenia up, and installed Parthamaspates as its king. Parthamaspates was soon defeated by the Parthians, and again fled to the Romans, Sohaemus was named king of Armenia by Roman emperor Antoninus Pius in 140. Just a few years later in 161, Armenia was lost again to Vologases IV of Parthia, in 163, a Roman counter-attack under Statius Priscus defeated the Parthians in Armenia and reinstalled Sohaemus as the Romans favored candidate on the Armenian throne. Thereafter Armenia was in frequent dispute between the two empires and their candidates for the Armenian throne, a situation which lasted until the emergence of a new power, the Sassanids. Indeed, Romes power and control increased even more, but Armenia retained its independence, although now on. In 363, a treaty was signed between the East Roman and Sassanid Persian empires, which divided Armenia between the two, the Persians retained the larger part of Armenia while the Romans received a small part of Western Armenia. The area under East Roman control thus increased, but still, under Roman rule, Melitene was the base camp of Legio XII Fulminata. It was a center in Armenia Minor, remaining so until the end of the 4th century. Emperor Theodosius I divided the region into two provinces, First Armenia, with its capital at Sebasteia, and Second Armenia, with its capital at Melitene, in return, they received their royal insignia, including red shoes, from the emperor

27.
Armenian Genocide
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Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre. Most Armenian diaspora communities around the world came into being as a result of the genocide. Raphael Lemkin was explicitly moved by the Armenian annihilation to define systematic and premeditated exterminations within legal parameters, Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, denies the word genocide as an accurate term for the mass killings of Armenians that began under Ottoman rule in 1915. It has in recent years been faced with repeated calls to them as genocide. To date,29 countries have recognized the mass killings as genocide, as have most genocide scholars. The western portion of historical Armenia, known as Western Armenia, had come under Ottoman rule following the Peace of Amasya, henceforth, the region was also alternatively referred to as Turkish Armenia or Ottoman Armenia. The Armenian community was made up of three denominations, Armenian Catholic, Armenian Protestant, and Armenian Apostolic, the religion of a vast majority of Armenians. Through the millet system, the Armenian community were allowed to rule themselves under their own system of governance with fairly little interference from the Ottoman government, Ottoman census figures clash with the statistics collected by the Armenian Patriarchate. According to the latter, there were almost three million Armenians living in the empire in 1878, in the Ottoman Empire, in accordance with the dhimmi system implemented in Muslim countries, they, like all other Christians and also Jews, were accorded certain freedoms. The dhimmi system in the Ottoman Empire was largely based upon the Pact of Umar, while the Pact of Umar prohibited non-Muslims from building new places of worship, it was not enforced in all regions of the Ottoman Empire. Since there were no laws concerning religious ghettos, the prohibition of non-Muslims building new places of worship led to their clustering around existing ones and it did not mean religious persecution, it meant unutterable contempt. They were dogs and pigs, and their nature was to be Christians, to be spat upon, if their shadow darkened a Turk, to be outraged, in addition to other legal limitations, Christians were not considered equals to Muslims and several prohibitions were placed on them. They were forbidden to carry weapons or ride horses and camels. Their houses could not overlook those of Muslims, and their religious practices were severely circumscribed, from 1839 to the declaration of a constitution in 1876, the Ottoman government instituted the Tanzimat, a series of reforms designed to improve the status of minorities. Nevertheless, most of the reforms were never implemented because the empires Muslim population rejected the principle of equality for Christians. By the late 1870s, the Greeks, along several other Christian nations in the Balkans, frustrated with their conditions, had, often with the help of the great powers. The Armenians remained, by and large, passive during these years, in the mid-1860s and early 1870s this passivity gave way to new currents of thinking in Armenian society. The Ottoman government considered these grievances and promised to punish those responsible, under growing pressure, the government of Sultan Abdul Hamid II declared itself a constitutional monarchy with a parliament and entered into negotiations with the powers

28.
Artaxiad dynasty
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The Artaxiad dynasty or Ardaxiad dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until their overthrow by the Romans in AD12. Their realm included Greater Armenia, Sophene and intermittently Lesser Armenia and their main enemies were the Romans, the Seleucids and the Parthians, against whom the Armenians had to conduct multiple wars. According to the geographer Strabo, Artaxias and Zariadres were two satraps of the Seleucid Empire, who ruled over the provinces of Greater Armenia and Sophene respectively. After the Seleucid defeat at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, they revolted and declared their independence, scholars believe that Artaxias and Zariadres were not foreign generals but local figures related to the previous Orontid dynasty, as their Irano-Armenian names would indicate. According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, the Artaxiads were a branch of the earlier Orontid dynasty of Iranian origin attested as ruling in Armenia from at least the 5th century BCE, Artaxias is regarded as one of the most important kings in Armenian history. He presented himself as a descendant of Orontids, although it is unknown if he was in fact related to that dynasty. In the beginning of his rule, parts of the Armenian Highlands with Armenian speaking populations remained under the rule of neighbouring states, Artaxias made the reunification of those lands under his domain a priority. Greek geographer and historian Strabo recounts the conquests of Artaxias towards West, East, according to Strabo and Plutarch, Artaxias also founded the Armenian capital Artaxata with the aid of the Carthaginian general Hannibal who was being sheltered from the Romans within Artaxias court. The population of the previous Orontid capital of Ervandashat was transferred to Artaxata, in these inscriptions Artaxias claims descent from the Orontid Dynasty, King Artaxias, the son of Orontid Zariadres. During this time, the Armenian rulers incorporated many Greek elements and this is shown by the contemporary Armenian coins. They followed Greek models and have inscriptions in the Greek language, some coins describe the Armenian kings as Philhellenes. Knowledge of Greek in Armenia is also evidenced by surviving parchments, Tigranes successor Artavasdes II even composed Greek tragedies himself. Nevertheless, Armenian culture still retained a strong Iranian element, particularly in religious matters, during the reign of Tigranes the Great, the kingdom of Armenia was at the zenith of its power and briefly became the most powerful state to the Roman east. Artaxias and his followers had already constructed the base upon which Tigranes built his empire, despite this fact, the territory of Armenia, being a mountainous one, was governed by nakharars who were largely autonomous from the central authority. Tigranes unified them in order to create internal security in the kingdom, the borders of Armenia stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. At that time, the Armenians had become so expansive, that the Romans and Parthians had to join forces in order to beat them, Tigranes found a more central capital within his domain and named it Tigranocerta. Large territories were taken from Parthians, who were forced to sign a treaty of friendship with Tigranes, iberia, Albania, and Atropatene also lost territories and the remainder of their Kingdoms became vassal states. The Greeks within the Seleucid Empire offered Tigranes the Seleucid crown in 83, after which the Armenian empire reached as far south as modern Acre, Roman involvement in Asia Minor brought Tigranes empire to an end

29.
Arsacid dynasty of Armenia
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The Arsacid dynasty, known natively as the Arshakuni dynasty, ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 to 428. They are a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, Arsacid Kings reigned intermittently throughout the chaotic years following the fall of the Artaxiad Dynasty until 62 when Tiridates I secured Arsacid dynasty of Parthia rule in Armenia. An independent line of Kings was established by Vologases II in 180, the first appearance of an Arsacid on the Armenian throne came about in 12 when the Parthian King Vonones I was exiled from Parthia due to his pro-Roman policies and Occidental manners. Artabanus III did not waste time after deposition of Vonones I, Armenia was given in 18 to Zeno the son of Polemon I of Pontus, who assumed the Armenian name Artaxias. The Parthians under Artabanus III were too distracted by internal strife to oppose the Roman-appointed King, zenos reign was remarkably peaceful in Armenian history. Tiberius, sent an Iberian named Mithridates, who claimed to be of Arsacid blood, Mithridates successfully subjugated Armenia to the Roman rule and deposed Arsaces inflicting huge devastation to the country. Surprisingly, Mithridates was summoned back to Rome where he was kept a prisoner, another civil war erupted in Parthia upon Artabanus IIIs death. In the meantime Mithridates was put back on the Armenian throne, with the help of his brother, Pharasmanes I, civil war continued in Parthia for several years with Gotarzes eventually seizing the throne in 45. In 51 Mithridates’ nephew Rhadamistus invaded Armenia and killed his uncle, the governor of Cappadocia, Julius Pailinus, decided to conquer Armenia but he settled with the crowning of Radamistus who generously rewarded him. The current Parthian King Vologases I, saw an opportunity, invaded Armenia, the harsh winter that followed proved too much for the Parthians who also withdrew, thus leaving open doors for Radamistus to regain his throne. Unhappy with the growing Parthian influence at their doorstep, Roman Emperor Nero sent General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo with an army to the east in order to install Roman client kings. After Tiridates I escaped, Roman client king Tigranes VI was installed and in 61 he invaded the Kingdom of Adiabene, Vologases I considered this as an act of aggression from Rome and restarted a campaign to restore Tiridates I onto the Armenian throne. Trajan marched towards Armenia in October 113 to restore a Roman client king in Armenia, envoys from Osroes I met Trajan at Athens, informing him that Axidares had been deposed and asking that Axidares elder brother, Parthamasiris, be granted the throne. Trajan declined their proposal and in August 114 captured Arsamosata where Parthamasiris asked to be crowned, Parthamasiris was dismissed and died mysteriously soon afterwards. As a Roman province Armenia was administered along with Cappadocia by Lucius Catilius Severus of the gens Catilia, eventually compromise with the Parthians was reached and Parthian Vologases was placed in charge of Armenia. Vologases IV, son of legitimate Parthian king Mithridates IV, dispatched his troops to seize Armenia in 161, encouraged by the spahbod Osroes, Parthian troops marched further West into Roman Syria. Marcus Aurelius immediately sent Lucius Verus to the Eastern front, in 163, Verus dispatched General Statius Priscus, who was recently transferred from Britain along with several legions, from Syrian Antioch to Armenia. As a result of an epidemic within the Roman forces, Parthians retook most of their lost territory in 166, after a few intervening Roman and Parthian rulers, Vologases II assumed the throne in 186

30.
Bagratid Armenia
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Ashots prestige rose as he was courted by both Byzantine and Arab leaders eager to maintain a buffer state near their frontiers. The Caliphate recognized Ashot as prince of princes in 862 and, later on, the establishment of the Bagratuni kingdom later led to the founding of several other Armenian principalities and kingdoms, Taron, Vaspurakan, Kars, Khachen and Syunik. Unity among all states was sometimes difficult to maintain while the Byzantines. Under the reign of Ashot III, Ani became the capital and grew into a thriving economic. The first half of the 11th century saw the decline and eventual collapse of the kingdom, the weakening of the Sassanian Empire during the 7th century led to the rise of another regional power, the Muslim Arabs. The Umayyad Arabs had conquered vast swaths of territory in the Middle East and, turning north, theodore Rshtuni, the Armenian Curopalates, signed a peace treaty with the Caliphate although the continuing war with the Arabs and Byzantines soon lead to further destruction throughout Armenia. In 661, Armenian leaders agreed to submit under Muslim rule while the latter conceded to recognize Grigor Mamikonian from the powerful Mamikonian nakharar family as ishkhan of Armenia, known as al-Arminiya with its capital at Dvin, the province was headed by an ostikan, or governor. However, Umayyad rule in Armenia grew in cruelty in the early 8th century, revolts against the Arabs spread throughout Armenia until 705, when under the pretext of meeting for negotiations, the Arab ostikan of Nakhichevan massacred almost all of the Armenian nobility. The rebellions failure also resulted in the disintegration of the Mamikonian house which lost most of the land it controlled. A third and final rebellion, stemming from similar grievances as the second, was launched in 774 under the leadership of Mushegh Mamikonian, the Bagratuni family had done its best to improve its relations with the Abbasid caliphs ever since they took power in 750. Fortunately for the Armenians, the number of Arabs residing in Armenia never grew in number to form a majority nor were the emirates fully subordinate to the Caliph. As historian George Bournoutian observes, this fragmentation of Arab authority provided the opportunity for the resurgence of the Bagratuni family headed by Ashot Msaker, the brothers, however, were unable to resolve their differences with one another nor able to form a unified front against the Muslims. In 857, Smbat had been succeeded by his son Ashot I and he assumed the title prince of princes in 862 and appointed his brother Abas sparapet, as they began to push the Arabs out from their base in Tayk. His initial efforts to expel the ostikan of Arminiya failed, although this did not dissuade him in taking advantage of the Byzantine-Arab rivalry. A synod of Armenian church leaders was convoked and a letter laden with equivocal wording sent to Constantinople was able to sustain a temporary agreement between the two churches, in any case, religious differences mattered little to the Byzantines in consideration of the menace the Arabs continued to pose. This act was not lost on Basil who similarly sent a crown to Ashot, Ashot relocated his throne to the fortress-city of Bagaran and it was here where his coronation ceremony was held sometime in 884 or 885. Thus, Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and became Armenias first king since 428 and he secured the favor of both the Byzantines and Arabs but ultimately showed loyalty to Basil and chose to conclude an alliance with the Byzantines in 885. Ashot was not the sole Armenian prince of the region yet he commanded the support of the other princes who recognized his authority in his becoming of king

31.
Bagratuni dynasty
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The Bagratuni or Bagratid royal dynasty was a royal family of Armenia that ruled many regional polities of the medieval Kingdom of Armenia, such as Syunik, Lori, Vaspurakan, Vanand, Taron, and Tayk. The Bagratid family first emerged as nakharars, members of the nobility of Armenia. Their holdings were in the region of İspir, in the Çoruh River valley, as early as 288–301, the Bagratid prince Smbat held the hereditary Armenian titles of Aspet, which means Master of the Horse, and Tagatir, which means Coronant of the King. According to Prince Cyril Toumanoff, the earliest Bagratid prince was chronicled as early as 314 AD, in the 8th century, Smbat VII Bagratuni revolted against the Abbasid Caliphate but the revolt was defeated. The Bagratid Princes of Armenia are known as early as 1st century BC when they served under the Artaxiad Dynasty, unlike most noble families of Armenia they held only strips of land, as opposed to the Mamikonians, who held a unified land territory. These are the earliest Bagratid princes in Armenia prior to the establishment of the kingdom, ashot I was the first Bagratid King, the founder of the Royal dynasty. He was recognized as prince of princes by the court at Baghdad in 861, ashot won the war, and was recognized as King of the Armenians by Baghdad in 885. Recognition from Constantinople followed in 886, in an effort to unify the Armenian nation under one flag, the Bagratids subjugated other Armenian noble families through conquests and fragile marriage alliances. Eventually, some families such as the Artsrunis and the Siunis broke off from the central Bagratid authority. Ashot III the Merciful transferred their capital to the city of Ani and they kept power by playing off the competition between the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs. They assumed the Persian-influenced titles of the King of Kings, the rule of the Ani branch ended in 1045 with the conquest of Ani by the Byzantines. The Kars branch held on until 1064, the dynasty of Cilician Armenia is believed to be a branch of the Bagratids, later took the throne of an Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia. The founder, Ruben I, had a relationship to the exiled king Gagik II. He was either a family member or kinsman. Ashot, son of Hovhannes, was governor of Ani under the Shaddadid dynasty. List of Armenian kings Pakradouni Prince Cyrille Toumanoff, Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour lhistoire de la Caucasie Chrétienne, - still remains the only account of the family generally available in the West, although its scientific standard has been criticized as very low. The Families of the Nobility of the Russian Empire, Volume III, - contains the latest research available in Russian, compiled by Georgian scientists, some of them Bagratids themselves. Armenian Nobility Site Robert Bedrosians History Page R. H. Hewsen, Armenia, A Historical Atlas,2001 ISBN 0-226-33228-4 Media related to Bagratuni at Wikimedia Commons

32.
Rubenids
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The Rubenids or Roupenids were an Armenian dynasty who dominated parts of Cilicia, and who established the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The dynasty takes its name from its founder, the Armenian prince Ruben I, the Rubenids were princes, later kings, of Cilicia from around 1080 until they were surpassed by the Hethumids in the mid-thirteenth century. Intermarriage with European crusading families was common, and European religious, political, Roupen I Constantine I Thoros I Constantine II Leo I Thoros II Roupen II Mleh Roupen III Leo II Leo I Isabella

33.
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
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Located outside of the Armenian Highland and distinct from the Armenian Kingdom of antiquity, it was centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta. Their capital was originally at Tarsus, and later became Sis, Cilicia was a strong ally of the European Crusaders, and saw itself as a bastion of Christendom in the East. It also served as a focus for Armenian nationalism and culture, in 1198, with the crowning of Levon the Magnificent of the Rubenid dynasty, Cilician Armenia became a kingdom. In 1226, the crown was passed to rival Hethumids through Isabellas second husband, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Crusader states disintegrated and the Mongols became Islamized, leaving the Armenian Kingdom without any regional allies. After relentless attacks by the Mamluks in Egypt in the fourteenth century, commercial and military interactions with Europeans brought new Western influences to the Cilician Armenian society. Many aspects of Western European life were adopted by the nobility including chivalry, fashions in clothing, and the use of French titles, names, moreover, the organization of the Cilician society shifted from its traditional system to become closer to Western feudalism. The European Crusaders themselves borrowed know-how, such as elements of Armenian castle-building, Cilician Armenia thrived economically, with the port of Ayas serving as a center for East to West trade. Armenian presence in Cilicia dates back to the first century BC, when under Tigranes the Great, in 83 BC, the Greek aristocracy of Seleucid Syria, weakened by a bloody civil war, offered their allegiance to the ambitious Armenian king. Tigranes then conquered Phoenicia and Cilicia, effectively ending the Seleucid Empire, the southern border of his domain reached as far as Ptolemais. Many of the inhabitants of conquered cities were sent to the new metropolis of Tigranakert, at its height, Tigranes Armenian Empire extended from the Pontic Alps to Mesopotamia, and from the Caspian to the Mediterranean. Tigranes invaded as far southeast as the Parthian capital of Ecbatana, in 27 BC, the Roman Empire conquered Cilicia and transformed it into one of its eastern provinces. After the 395 AD partition of the Roman Empire into halves, Cilicia became incorporated into the Eastern Roman Empire, in the sixth century AD, Armenian families relocated to Byzantine territories. Many served in the Byzantine army as soldiers or as generals, Cilicia fell to Arab invasions in the seventh century and was entirely incorporated into the Rashidun Caliphate. However, the Caliphate failed to gain a permanent foothold in Anatolia, Nicephorus thus expelled the Muslims living in Cilicia, and encouraged Christians from Syria and Armenia to settle in the region. Emperor Basil II tried to expand into Armenian Vaspurakan in the east, as a result of the Byzantine military campaigns, the Armenians spread into Cappadocia, and eastward from Cilicia into the mountainous areas of northern Syria and Mesopotamia. The formal annexation of Greater Armenia to the Byzantine Empire in 1045, the Armenians could not re-establish an independent state in their native highland after the fall of Bagratid Armenia as it remained under foreign occupation. The Armenians came to serve the Byzantines as military officers or governors, the Seljuks also played a significant role in the Armenian population movement into Cilicia. In 1064, the Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan made their advance towards Anatolia by capturing Ani in Byzantine-held Armenia, seven years later, they earned a decisive victory against Byzantium by defeating Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes army at Manzikert, north of Lake Van

34.
House of Lusignan
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It also had great influence in England and France. The family originated in Poitou, near Lusignan in western France, by the end of the 11th century, the family had risen to become the most prominent petty lords in the region from their castle at Lusignan. In the late 12th century, through marriages and inheritance, a branch of the family came to control the kingdoms of Jerusalem. In the early 13th century, the main branch succeeded in the Counties of La Marche, as Crusader kings in the Latin East, they soon had connections with the Hethumid rulers of the Kingdom of Cilicia, which they inherited through marriage in the mid-14th century. The Armenian branch fled to France, and eventually Russia, after the Mamluk conquest of their kingdom, the claim was taken by the Cypriot branch, until their line failed. This kingdom was annexed by the Republic of Venice in the late 15th century, the Château de Lusignan, near Poitiers, was the principal seat of the Lusignans. It was later destroyed during the Wars of Religion, and only its foundations remain in Lusignan, according to legend, the earliest castle was built by the folklore water-spirit Melusine. The lords of the castle at Lusignan were counts of La Marche, Hugh I Hugh II Hugh III Hugh IV Hugh V Hugh VI inherited by collateral succession the County of La Marche as a descendant of Almodis. Hugh VI Hugh VII Hugh VIII Hugh IX Raoul I Raoul II Marie Hugh IXs son, Hugh X, married Isabelle of Angoulême, thus securing Angoulême. Hugh X Hugh XI Hugh XII Hugh XIII Guy Yolande Yolande sold the fiefs of Lusignan, La Marche, Angoulême and they became a part of the French royal demesne and a common appanage of the crown. In the 1170s, Amalric de Lusignan arrived in Jerusalem, having been expelled by Richard Lionheart from his realm, Amalric married Eschiva, the daughter of Baldwin of Ibelin, and entered court circles. He had also obtained the patronage of Agnes of Courtenay, the mother of King Baldwin IV. He was appointed Agnes constable in Jaffa, and later as constable of the kingdom, hostile rumours alleged he was Agnes lover, but this is questionable. Amalrics younger brother, Guy de Lusignan, arrived at some date before Easter 1180, when he arrived is quite unknown, although Ernoul said that he arrived at that time on Amalrics advice. Many modern historians believe that Guy was already established in Jerusalem by 1180. But, Amalric of Lusignans success certainly facilitated the social and political advancement of his brother Guy, Agnes was said to have foiled these plans by advising her son to have Sibylla married to Guy. As the new King of France, Philip II, was still a minor and he owed the Pope a penitential pilgrimage on account of the Thomas Becket affair. Guy was a vassal of Richard of Poitou and Henry II, Guy and Sibylla were hastily married at Eastertide 1180, apparently preventing a coup by Raymonds faction to marry her to Baldwin of Ibelin, the father-in-law of Almaric

35.
First Republic of Armenia
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The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle Ages. The republic was established in the Armenian-populated territories of the disintegrated Russian Empire, the leaders of the government came mostly from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The First Republic of Armenia bordered the Democratic Republic of Georgia to the north, the Ottoman Empire to the west, Persia to the south, and it had a total land area of roughly 70,000 km², and a population of 1.3 million. The Armenian National Council declared the independence of Armenia on 28 May 1918, from the very onset, Armenia was plagued with a variety of domestic and foreign problems. A humanitarian crisis emerged from the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide as tens of thousands of Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire settled there, the republic lasted for over two years, during which time it was involved in several armed conflicts caused by territorial disputes. By late 1920, the nation was conquered by the Soviet Red Army, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the republic regained its independence as the current Republic of Armenia in 1991. With the help of several battalions of Armenians recruited from the Russian Empire, the Russians continued to make considerable advances even after the toppling of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917. In March 1917, the revolution that toppled Tsar Nicholas. Shortly after, the Provisional Government replaced Grand Duke Nicholas administration in the Caucasus with the five-member Special Transcaucasian Committee, the Ozakom included Armenian Democrat Mikayel Papadjanian, and was set to heal wounds inflicted by the old regime. In doing so, Western Armenia was to have a general commissar and was to be subdivided into the districts of Trebizond, Erzerum, Bitlis, and Van. The decree was a concession to the Armenians, Western Armenia was placed under the central government. Dr. Hakob Zavriev would serve as the assistant for civil affairs, in October 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government and announced that they would be withdrawing troops from both the Western and Caucasus fronts. The Armenians, Georgians, and Muslims of the Caucasus all rejected the Bolsheviks legitimacy, on December 5,1917, the armistice of Erzincan was signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Transcaucasian Commissariat, ending armed conflict. After the Bolshevik seizure of power, a congress of Transcaucasian representatives met to create a provisional regional executive body known as the Transcaucasian Seim. The Commissariat and the Seim were heavily encumbered by the pretense that the South Caucasus formed a unit of a non-existent Russian democracy. The Armenian deputies in the Seim were hopeful that the forces in Russia would prevail in the Russian Civil War. In February 1918, the Armenians, Georgians and Muslims had reluctantly joined to form the Transcaucasian Federation, on March 3,1918, Russian followed the armistice of Erzincan with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and left the war. It ceded territory From March 14 to April 1918, when a conference was held between the Ottoman Empire and the delegation of the Seim

36.
Satrapy of Armenia
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The Satrapy of Armenia, a region controlled by the Orontid Dynasty was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, which later became an independent kingdom. Its capitals were Tushpa and later Erebuni, after the collapse of the Kingdom of Urartu, the region was placed under the administration of the Median Empire and the Scythians. Later the territory was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire, which incorporated it as a satrapy, and thus named it the land of Armina ). The Orontid Dynasty, or known by their name, Eruandid or Yervanduni, was a hereditary dynasty of ancient Armenia. Historians state that the dynasty was of Iranian origin, and suggest, albeit not clearly, throughout their existence, the Orontids stressed their lineage from the Achaemenids in order to strengthen their political legitimacy. The Orontids established their supremacy over Armenia around the time of the Scythian and Median invasion in the 6th century BC and its founder was Orontes I Sakavakyats. His son, Tigranes Orontid, united his forces with Cyrus the Great, moses of Chorene called him the wisest, most powerful and bravest of Armenian kings. From 553 BC to 521 BC, Armenia was a kingdom of the Achaemenid Empire. He sent an Armenian named Dâdarši to stop a revolt against Persian rule, later replacing him with the Persian general, Vaumisa, who defeated the Armenians in 521 BC. Around the same time, another Armenian by the name of Arakha, son of Haldita, claimed to be the son of the last king of Babylon, Nabonidus and his rebellion was short lived and was suppressed by Intaphrenes, Darius bow carrier. After the Battle of Gaugamela, Orontes III was able to regain independence for Armenia, but in 201 BC, Armenia was conquered by Artashes, a general from the Seleucid Empire, and also said to be a member of Orontid dynasty. The last Orontid king Orontes IV was killed, but the Orontids continued to rule in Sophene and Commagene until the 1st century BC, Orontid Dynasty Urartu Achaemenid Empire Kingdom of Armenia

37.
Kingdom of Commagene
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The Kingdom of Commagene was an ancient Armenian kingdom of the Hellenistic period, located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which served as its capital. The Iron Age name of Samosata, Kummuh, probably gives its name to Commagene, Commagene has been characterized as a buffer state between Armenia, Parthia, Syria, and Rome, culturally, it seems to have been correspondingly mixed. The territory of Commagene corresponds roughly to the modern Turkish provinces of Adıyaman, little is known of the region of Commagene prior to the beginning of the 2nd century BC. However, it seems that, from what little evidence remains and this control lasted until c. 163 BC, when the local satrap, Ptolemaeus of Commagene, established himself as independent ruler following the death of the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Kingdom of Commagene maintained its independence until 17 AD, when it was made a Roman province by Emperor Tiberius, the reemergent state lasted until 72 AD, when the Emperor Vespasian finally and definitively made it part of the Roman Empire. It is now a World Heritage Site, the cultural identity of the Kingdom of Commagene has been variously characterized. Pierre Merlat suggests that the Commagenian city of Doliche, like others in its vicinity, was half Iranianized, david M. Lang describes Commagene as a former Armenian satellite kingdom, while Blömer and Winter call it a Hellenistic kingdom. Frank McLynn denominates it a a small Hellenised Armenian kingdom in southern Anatolia, while the language used on public monuments was typically Greek, Commagenes rulers made no secret of their Persian and Armenian affinities. Over the course of first centuries BC and AD, the names given on a tomb at Sofraz Köy show a mix of typical Hellenistic dynastic names with an introduction of Latin personal names. Lang notes the vitality of Graeco-Roman culture in Commagene, Commagene was originally a small Syro-Hittite kingdom, located in modern south-central Turkey, with its capital at Samosata. It was first mentioned in Assyrian texts as Kummuhu, which was normally an ally of Assyria, the Achaemenid Empire then conquered Commagene in the 6th century BC and Alexander the Great conquered the territory in the 4th century BC. Ptolemys dynasty was related to the Parthian kings, but his descendant Mithridates I Callinicus embraced Hellenistic culture and his dynasty could thus claim ties with both Alexander the Great and the Persian kings. This marriage may also have part of a peace treaty between Commagene and the Seleucid Empire. From this point on, the kingdom of Commagene became more Greek than Persian, with Sophene, it was to serve as an important centre for the transmission of Hellenistic and Roman culture in the region. Details are sketchy, but Mithridates Callinicus is thought have accepted Armenian suzerainty during the reign of Tigranes II the Great, Mithridates and Laodice’s son was King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. Antiochus was an ally of the Roman general Pompey during the campaigns against Mithridates VI of Pontus in 64 BC. Thanks to his skills, Antiochus was able to keep Commagene independent from the Romans. In 17 when Antiochus III of Commagene died, Emperor Tiberius annexed Commagene to the province of Syria, in 38, Caligula reinstated Antiochus IIIs son Antiochus IV and also gave him the wild areas of Cilicia to govern

38.
Kingdom of Vaspurakan
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Vaspurakan was the first and biggest province of Greater Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now called eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran, during most of its history it was ruled by the Ardzruni dynasty, which first managed to create a principality in the area. At its greatest extent Vaspurakan comprised the lands between Lake Van and Lake Urmia in 908, during this time they were under the sovereignty of the Bagratuni Kingdom of Ani. Soon he was recognized as the King of Vaspurakan by the Bagratuni Ashot II, in 1021 Seneqerim Artsruni gave Vaspurakan to the Byzantine Empire, receiving Sebasteia and its surroundings. Vaspurakan became the Byzantine province of Vasprakania or Media, in about 1050 Vasprakania was merged with that of Taron, but was conquered by the Saljuq Turks between 1054-1056. In the 13th century part of Vaspurakan was liberated by Zakarids, but soon was conquered by Mongols, then by Ottoman Turks. Turks several times tried to kill Armenians in Vaspurakan, especially in Van, but Vans Armenian population always resisted, especially is notable Siege of Van of 1915, when the Ottoman forces attacked on Van during 1915s Armenian Genocide. After the Byzantine annexation the dynasty continued with Derenik, son of Gurgen Khatchik, King Hovhannes-Seneqerim also had several children among them David, Atom, Abushal and Constantine. There is a legend that one of Seneqerims daughter is thought to have married Mendo Alao, David had a daughter that married King Gagik II of Ani. Another branch of the family appeared on the person of Khatchik the Great in 1040, Hasan had a son called Abelgharib who had a daughter that married King David of Ani. The kingdom of Vaspurakan had no capital, the court moving as the king transferred his residence from place to place – Van, Ostan/Vostan. Married to a daughter of Ashot Msaker of the Bagratuni family, Gurgen II Artsruni of Mardastan, Prince. Married Sofia, daughter of Ashot I Bagratuni the Great, Prince of Armenia, Gagik Abu Morvan Artsruni, regent for Grigor-Dereniks sons, then usurper prince. Afterhis death Vaspurakan is divided, Gagik III Artsruni, Prince in northwest Vaspurakan. Brother of Ashot-Sargis, Gurgen III Artsruni, Prince in southeast Vaspurakan. Gagik I Artsruni, crowned king Derenik-Ashot, King, gurgen-Khachik, King and Lord of Antzevasiq. Seneqerim-Hovhannes, Brother of Ashot-Sahak, King and lord of Rechtuniq, Armenia and the Byzantine Empire, a Brief Study of Armenian Art and Civilization

39.
Artsruni
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The Artsruni were an ancient noble family of Armenia. The Artsrunis claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria, although it mirrors the Bagratuni claim of Davidic descent and the Mamikonian claim of descent from the royal Han Dynasty, it is usually interpreted as a piece of genealogical mythology. The origin of this claim is attributed to Moses of Chorene according to whom Sennacheribs sons fled to Armenia after murdering him, Chorene in turn was in all likelihood inspired by Biblical tradition, According to the genealogist and historian Cyril Toumanoff, as well as historian M. The eagle was an animal for the Artsrunis and in a legend the progenitor of the Artsrunis is said to have been abandoned as a child. The first attested member of the family is thought to be Mithrobarzanes in 69 B. C, in the middle of the 4th century the family was deposed. In 369 the state was led by Merujan Artsruni who guided Persian troops to Armenia, exchanged Christianity for Mazdaism, the latter recovered power soon after, however, and Merujan was killed. Around 772 the Artsruni presided over the families of Amatuni, Rshtuni, Teruni of Dariunq and ruled the regions of Maku, Artaz, Great Zab Valley and Van river. In the same 8th century, the Bagratid dynasty, re-established the monarch of Armenia, thus, Khatcḥik-Gagik II Artsruni was the first of the Artsrunis to rule Vaspurakan under Abbasid suzerainty. Gagik I of Vaspurakan claimed the title of King of Armenia from the Bagratuni Dynasty until his death in 936 or 943, in the beginning of the 11th century, the Artsruni settled westwards in Cappadocia, retreating from eastern invaders. In 1021, Seneqerim-Hovhannes of Vaspurakan was given Sebaste, Evdokia and he and 14,000 of his retainers settled in the Theme of Sebasteia, while the Kingdom of Vaspurakan became the Byzantine theme of Vasprakania, which lasted for fifty years until 1071. These two constructions were built on the order of Khachik Gagik II, another example are the literary productions, such as those by Thomas Artsruni in the tenth century. Umberto Eco introduced the character of Ardsruni, a nobleman and alchemist in Cilicia, in his fantastic novel Baudolino

40.
Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget
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The capital of the kingdom was Matsnaberd, currently part of modern-day Azerbaijan. It was located on the territories of modern-day northern Armenia, northwestern Azerbaijan, the founder of the kingdom and the Kiurikian dynasty was king Kiurike I. In 979 King Smbat II of Armenia granted the province of Tashir to his brother Kiurike with the title of king, the branch went on to outlive the main one in Ani. It became especially strong during the reign of King David I Anhoghin who succeeded his father Kiurike, David I Anhoghin conquered some territories from Emirates of Tbilisi and Ganja, and chose Samshvilde as his residence. Later on, he tried to gain independence from the Bagratid kings of Ani, however, after failing he was punished by King Gagik I. His properties were confiscated to become known as Anhoghin meaning the Landless, David I was succeeded by Kiurike II who ruled between 1048 and 1089). After the fall of the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia, Kiurike II was bestowed by the Byzantines with the title of Kouropalates, Kiurike II moved the capital from Matsnaberd to Lori in 1065. In 1089, David II succeeded his father Kiurike II until 1118 when Tashir-Dzoraget became part of the Kingdom of Georgia. They sponsored the construction of a number of churches and monasteries in northern Armenia, including those in Sanahin, Haghpat and Haghartsin, where a great many of them were interred

Head of a Bull, Urartu, 8th century BC. This head was attached to the rim of an enormous cauldron similar to the one shown above. Walters Art Museum collections.

Fragment of a bronze helmet from Argishti I's era. The "tree of life", popular among the ancient societies, is depicted. The helmet was discovered during the excavations of the fortress Of Teyshebaini on Karmir-Blur (Red Hill).

Diyarbakır (Kurdish: Amed) is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the Tigris …

Image: City of Diyarbakır

16th century plan of Diyarbakır by Matrakci Nasuh. The eastern half of the walled city depicted here (Sur), was leveled in 2015–2016 during the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. The western half is currently (2017) being demolished.